The Ghost In The Mirror
by Discreet Kitty
Summary: A year after Maddie disappears on a date at an abandoned haunted house with Diggie, Liv visits the house and discovers that both Maddie and Diggie are still trapped within the house. Liv learns that the only way to save her sister is to offer herself to take her sister's place. The only catch is that Maddie is dead. Will Liv sacrifice herself to save her sister?


**Disclaimer: I do not own Liv and Maddie, nor the characters from it. I did not make any money writing this story.**

Liv Rooney was violently awakened by her mother, who was shaking the sleeping teen. Liv's eyes wandered around the room, it was black and she unsure if she was awake or dreaming. Liv groaned, tossing to her side as she tried to remember what day it was. The last time she checked, today was Saturday and she had nothing planned early in the morning. She rubbed her eyes and peered over at the bright red digits, glowing in the dark from her alarm clock. It was only five thirty in the morning and there was honestly no reason for her mother to wake up her. As she closed her eyes again, she heard Karen sigh, slide her slippers against the wooden floor and turns the high beamed ceiling lights on. The intensity of the light made Liv's eyes open then shut, burning her green eyes.

"Liv, where's Maddie?" Karen asked. Her mother's voice sounded shaky as if she was nervous about something. Liv wasn't fully aware to connect the dots from her mother's question and the tone of her voice.

"What are you talking about?" the sleepy celebrity asked.

She looked over at Maddie's side of the room and noticed that it was empty. She sat up and tried to remember what was going on. Liv wasn't a morning person, she even had trouble remembering things like lines or her co-star's characters names when she was on _Sing It Loud_! The fact that she knew to look over to Maddie's side of the room was a miracle. Karen must have noticed that her eldest daughter was having trouble following and decided to elaborate on what she said.

"She hasn't come home yet," she stated. "I called her once or twice or maybe twenty times. She hasn't answered. This isn't like her."

Liv tried to picture the last time she saw her twin. A faded and foggy memory of Maddie staring at herself in front of the mirror on a Friday night came into the blonde's head. It was nearly Halloween and Diggie was taking Maddie on a date. She remembered that Maddie was going to be do something special with Diggie and that could be the reason that they hadn't come home yet. The details were slowly coming to her but she was just too tired to think.

"She's with Diggie," Liv announced nonchalantly as she rolled over.

She could hear Karen's footsteps pacing around her bed. She heard her father say something from across the room. When did Pete walk up the stairs and come into her room? What was such a the big deal that Maddie didn't come home right away when she was on a date with her boyfriend? It was so early that Maddie could have fallen asleep and decided to spend the night with Diggie's. She'd be back in the morning and deal with the consequences later. All Liv cared about was getting a few more minutes of rest.

"His mom called me saying he didn't come home," Karen announced.

Diggie and Maddie could very well be in the back seat of a car in Denny's parking lot. She didn't know why her mom and Diggie's mom was so worried. Where did Maddie say they were going anyway? It couldn't be a Halloween party since Maddie refused to dress up. They were too old to go trick or treating. She was pretty sure they didn't go to the movies. Where did they … oh no.

"No!" Liv exclaimed.

She sat up in her bed as the memories of last night flooded back into her head. She could picture the scene vividly as the images flashed right before her eyes. It was like she was living yesterday night all over again. She let her deep breath out as she allowed herself to remember the past, allowing a flashback to take over her conscious mind.

The night before ….

Liv rolled her eyes as she stared at Maddie, who was brushing her hair into her usual ponytail. The basketball player groaned in frustration as she let her hair fell on her shoulder, she wiped her hands on her sides then continued working on her hair. Maddie seemed so nervous and Liv wished she could do something to help. She had been watching Maddie struggle to push her hair into a simple ponytail for almost 30 minutes now and it was just getting ridiculous. Liv didn't know why she was so nervous to go out with her boyfriend. Maddie was acting weird, stranger than usual. The celebrity sighed as she wished that Maddie would take her advice and dress up for her date with Diggie. Yes, Diggie didn't mind that Maddie wore basketball shorts and gym shoes but it was a date for crying out loud! Not just any date. It was two days before Halloween and it was vital for Maddie to wear a costume for this date. The sporty twin was stubborn and Liv was not going to let her walk out of the house looking like … well … herself.

"Um, Maddie?" Liv asked as she pressed her lips together.

Liv nervously laughed as she walked over to her twin's side of the room. She could see Maddie frowning at her through her reflection in the mirror. The mirror reminded her of the theory that Bree DuMont, the actress who played her mother on Sing It Loud!, told her she learned when she was an undergraduate at New York University's English program. The theory, Lacan's Mirror Stage, was when a baby recognized him or herself in the mirror and essentially learns that he or she is a person and that other people they see are not themselves. The interesting thing that Bree told her was that the mirror was actually a fantasy image of a person that forced people to judge themselves and copy others. In simple terms, the person you saw in the mirror wasn't you and that people shouldn't judge themselves based on the person staring in the mirror. Whoever Lacan was, his idea was very Christina Aguilera's Reflection -esque. Bree told Liv that when she was nervous about filming the fifth episode after losing one of her teeth from tripping in the high heels they made her wear. It was comforting knowing that as Demi Lovato's song Believe In Me said, "Mirror is a lie, doesn't show you what's inside" was true.

She ran a finger through her hair, sighed and then clapped her hands together. How could she explain to her sister that she was beautiful the way she was, that the mirror didn't reveal the real "Maddie" while telling her sister to dress up for Halloween? Duh. Because Halloween was the time of the year to deny your natural instincts and not be yourself. By pretending to be someone else for a night, you learn to appreciate who you really are. Besides, dressing up like a sexy vampire or a slutty witch was fun. Knowing Maddie, she wasn't into sexy costumes and Liv didn't want to force her sister to do something she wasn't comfortable with. Liv accepted her twin for who she was, whole-heartedly. Still, she needed to do something a little extra special for the biggest masquerade holiday of the year.

"Yes, Liv?" Maddie finally asked as she pulled her hair tie from her wrist and started wrapping it around her hair. She must have seen the way Liv was looking at her in the mirror. She turned around, sighed and asked the same question again.

"Maddie. It's Halloween."

"No Liv. It's the 29th."

Liv nervously giggled as she stepped closer to her sister. She placed a hand on her sister's shoulder, then quickly removed it when Maddie raised an eyebrow. Maddie's logic and lack of interest in celebrating special events correctly irked Liv. She didn't want to change Maddie but she didn't see the point in celebrating Halloween without dressing up! She wanted her sister to have fun and enjoy her date with Diggie. She also wanted her to look back and see she made the most out of her holidays.

"Wouldn't you like to …. you know … dress up?"

"I'm not going to a party."

Liv raised her eyebrows for a second and then smiled. Of course, Maddie didn't think she had to dress up for her date with Diggie because she wasn't going to a party. The location of the date or a number of people didn't matter. Maddie just needed to understand that dressing up was the right way the celebrate Halloween.

"What's the fun of Halloween if you don't dress up?"

Maddie started to say something then stopped just as an idea for the perfect costume popped into Liv's mind, making her squeal and run in her wedges towards her closet. Maddie chuckled and Liv knew she was shaking her head at her. It didn't matter to Liv. Maddie loved how excitable and dramatic she was. She opened both of the doors at the same time, quickly pushed through her silk dresses and pulled out two costumes. She held them by the hanger, walked over to Maddie and placed one of the outfits against her body. The first outfit was a witch costume with a pointed black hat, black dress with a corset-like top, black tutu-like skirt and green and black striped tights. Maddie shook her head, making Liv pout and throw the costume down. She held the other one, a wolf costume with a gray furry ear headband, matching furry gloves, and a tight-fitting furry dress. Maddie stared at the costume, running her hands on a dress and then shaking her head in a way that made Liv groan.

"What about the Tinker Bell -"

"Liv."

"But the sequins. Okay. Fine. What about the sexy wolf costume?"

"Uh."

"You mess with the wolf, you get the howl."

"Yeah, no."

"What about-"

"Liv, I'm going to a haunted house, not a fancy restaurant."

"Everyone we would be in costumes."

"Um."

Maddie turned her back from her sister and started fidgeting with her lucky wristband. She seemed too nervous about something. Maddie wasn't the type of person who acted nervous, especially when it came to doing routine things like a date with Diggie. This couldn't be a normal date then. What were they planning to do two days before Halloween that made Maddie nervous?

"Madison, what's going on?"

"Don't 'full name' me. Diggie is taking me to a haunted house. A real abandoned haunted house in the older part of town."

The thought of a date at a real abandoned, haunted house in the secluded part of the city would have made Liv nervous. There was no way in hell that a boy would take Liv to something like that. For one, it would be all disgusting and two, that sounded so unsafe. This was Maddie and not Liv but still, Liv didn't understand why did Diggie decide that a haunted house was a great place for a date.

"Um … how is that romantic?"

"Because," she said and her eyes drifted off while smirking.

Wait. Diggie planned on "doing it" with Maddie in an abandoned house. That would be the worse first time in the history of first times. Liv thought it was bad when she lost hers in the trailer of one of the guest star on season four of _Sing It Loud_! He was several years older than her and had given her red wine to drink. Soon they kissed and then before she knew it, she was thrown on top of the make-up table. He wasn't gentle at all and he didn't make her feel comfortable. In fact, for a while, she wondered if it counted as coercing since she was a minor and he had sweet-talked her and gave her an alcoholic drink to get what he wanted from her. She never told anyone what had happened because she didn't want to seem desperate or be looked upon as a victim. Her experience with that guy made her more wary of men in general, making her turn down all the boys that asked her out. In a way, Liv wished she had someone like Diggie who was sweet and liked Maddie for who she was and not for what she looked like. Although Liv knew that Diggie would make sure Maddie had a great first time, she also knew he didn't have any money for a hotel and neither of their houses was an option. It was important to Liv that Maddie enjoyed losing her virginity.

"Maddie?" Liv questioned. "In an abandoned house with spiders and cobwebs? Ewww."

"It's not like it is our first time."

Liv felt a little hurt that Maddie didn't tell her that she and Diggie had done the deed. Yes, she was hypocritical since she didn't tell Maddie but Maddie didn't have anything to be ashamed up. She loved Diggie and they had been together for a really long time. Liv wanted to ask when did it happen, where did it happen or if she enjoyed it. She decided that if Maddie didn't want to tell her, she wouldn't ask. One thing Liv couldn't allow is that her sister was going to be making love in an abandoned building. Besides, Liv didn't mind lending a hundred dollars for a hotel room.

"Madison!" Liv gasped. "How dare you not tell me?"

"It's no big deal."

"No big deal? The idea of virginity is the biggest deal in the history of womanhood. How could you not tell me about it?"

Maddie sighed and looked as she was thinking of what to say next. The way her shoulders shrugged, Liv could tell that she had tried coming up with a good reason but settled for an excuse.

"Look Liv, me and Diggie had been together for a long time. It just happened. No bells or whistles. It was nice. It was just me and Diggie just … well … being me and Diggie."

"I'm your best friend. Best friends share everything. I can't believe you didn't tell me!"

Liv huffed as she crossed her arms before turning away from Maddie with her usual dramatic flair. She could not even look at her twin at this moment. How could Maddie use that excuse to prove not telling her sister? It was an important moment in any girls' life to lose her virginity especially to the guy that she loves. To Liv, when a girl chose to give herself to someone, it should be celebrated. The fact that she had to the chose and enjoyed herself was a privilege that most women in the history of the world didn't have. Maddie may think that Liv was overexaggerating the significance of the first time, but for Liv, the first time was the beginning of a new phase of womanhood. Liv wished she would have had a better entrance into that new step into womanhood.

"Liv, I'm sorry for not telling you. I just don't see sex as a big deal. I think if people stop making it like this life-changing thing, then women expressing their sexuality wouldn't seem so ... I don't know ... like bad."

Liv turned back around, pushed her bang off her forehead and sighed dramatically. Liv hated to agree with Maddie but she had a point. Still, Liv felt like her take on deflowering was better. Although Maddie and she would not always agree with everything, the one thing that Liv wanted was for them to agree that there should be no secrets.

"Maddie?" Liv spoke as if she was asking a question. The tone of her voice rose when she said the last syllable of the end of Maddie's name.

"Liv?" Maddie asked. She raised her eyebrows in a way that looked as if she knew that Liv was about to say something.

"Just no secrets between us? Okay?"

"Yes, Liv. No secrets. So did you -"

"I'm different."

"Ha. Double standards."

"It was awful."

"Who? Holden?"

"No. He shall remain unnamed."

"Thought you said no secrets?"

"He was a guest star on Sing It Loud!"

"Oh my God. Liv, how could you not tell me?"

"You didn't tell me about yours!"

"Fine. From now on, we promise to tell each other everything. Promise?"

"Promise. Just one thing Maddie."

"What?"

"A haunted house really?"

"It doesn't have to be a five-star hotel room in California with champagne and roses. It's me and Diggie. We don't need -"

"Unacceptable. Maddie, I could give you -"

"Don't go there. Your money is your money. Me and Diggie are fine."

Of course, Maddie was going to turn down Liv' money. Unlike other celebrities' siblings, Maddie, Joey, and Parker rarely asked for money. Heck, even her parents didn't use Liv's money at all. The Rooney's made it clear that they weren't going to take advantage of Liv's job. For a while, Liv was the only one living off of her hard-earned money. That is why for so many years, she and her older cousin had lived in California while shooting. Mrs. Rooney originally had moved with Liv but then decided that midway through the show that it was unfair to leave the other children. It was only natural for Maddie to turn down the money. That still didn't make having a "romantic moment" in an abandoned house a good option just because it was a free place.

"Ehmagawd," Liv said while dramatically falling on her bed.

"It's going to be fine."

"You are going to have creepy crawlers all over, you aren't going to shower and then they are going to crawl from you on to me."

"I promise to shower when I get back. It's not like I'm spending the night there. I'll be back by midnight."

"Pinky swear?"

"Urg. Fine."

Liv pictured everything that happened last night in her head from the conversation with Maddie over wearing costumes, losing virginities and abandon buildings. As the memories all came back at once, Liv jumped out of bed and ran to her purse, grabbing her cell phone and started texting her sister. She and Diggie had gone to such a dangerous place and at a dangerous time that anything could have happened. She checked her text messages and didn't receive any text from her twin. Now she was feeling as worried as her parents. It wasn't like Maddie not to text if she was staying out late or staying with a friend. This was bad. Very bad. Liv's newfound urgency must have alerted her mother, who was in the room after waking up Liv to tell her that Maddie did not come home last night after her date with Diggie. The only reason Karen knew that was because Diggie's mother had called Karen at five something in the morning to tell her that Diggie did not come home.

"Liv?" Karen asked as she walked over to her daughter. "Did she tell you anything?"

Liv looked at her mom, her heart started palpitating as she wished that she didn't have to be the one to deliver this information. She signed, ran a finger through her hair and bite her lip. Her hesitation must have worried Karen since the older woman placed her hand over her heart.

"Mom, she was at a haunted house."

"Yes sweetie, I know. She told me. I'll call the company and ask them if they remember seeing a blonde -"

"No a real abandoned haunted house in the old part of the city."

"Why would she go there?" Liv heard her dad ask.

Pete was standing in the doorway, eavesdropping on the conversation. Liv heard his heavy footsteps stomp across the floor over to his wife and daughter. He looked like he just woke up. His eyes were scrunched and he was rocking his head side to side as if he was still too sleepy to keep up his head.

"I'm calling the police," Karen said as she immediately started walking towards the door entrance. She was about to walk out until Pete grabbed her hand.

"Honey, you have to wait for twenty-four hours," he informed her.

Twenty-four hours was way too long to wait to get the police involved. Maddie could have been taken across the border to Canada, forced to live in an igloo and be the mother and wife to a widower and motherless Eskimos by then. Or worse, she could be "not alive" and her "not alive body" could be buried, someone. Liv couldn't fathom living her life while her twin was … um .. no longer existing. It was hard enough when they were separated when she was acting on Sing It Loud! Spending a lifetime without her sister would be too painful. She needed Maddie.

"There is no law that says you have to," Karen said as Pete released her hand. "You just have to be demanding enough to call the cops and demand that they file a missing person case and get an Amber alert out."

Liv sighed in relief knowing that her mother was going to handle it. Karen would have the tri-county out looking for Maddie. Liv imagines helicopters flying around the city, beaming their lights down on any blonde female that resembled Maddie. Her picture would be on all three main news stations. Nancy Grace would probably make a special airing just to talk about Maddie's disappearance. With help from an entire country, Maddie would be found and brought back home in just a matter of hours. This whole morning would become one bad dream. Maddie, along with Diggie, would be sitting in the kitchen, sipping hot cocoa while Karen and Pete announced to the world that they were no longer missing.

This idea gave Liv the hope she needed to get out of bed that morning. It didn't stop a tear from dripping down her cheek when she walked past Maddie's side of the room. She waited until she was in the shower to let herself cry, sobbing for her twin to come and comfort her. She let the hot water pour over her as she grabbed the shower head, letting inhaling the steam directly from the source. When she came out the shower, she huddled herself with Maddie's towel. It was like Maddie was hugging her. It was a little gross because Liv had no idea when the last time Maddie watched the towel and it was a little weird that she was naked while holding something of Maddie's against her wet, naked body. Still, it helped Liv pull herself together before she left the bathroom and faced her family.

Liv felt relieved when she saw a female officer talking to Karen inside of Liv and Maddie's joined bedroom. She also felt a little uncomfortable, not just because she was only wearing a towel but it made Maddie's disappearance feel so much realer … if realer was even a word. She could feel her eyes stinging with unwanted tears as she heard the officer as if Maddie had plans of running away. The fact that the officer would ask something like that about Maddie made her so angry. Using her skills as a talented actress, she pulled herself together, grabbed some clothes and excused herself from the room. As she walked back to the bathroom, she could hear Pete talking to a male officer downstairs. There were two police officers in her house. Two people asking if Maddie was some type of rebellious teen that hated her family and ran away with her boyfriend. Liv knew Maddie too well. She and Diggie would never run away together. The thought probably never crossed their minds.

The gravity of the situation was beginning to take a toll on Liv's emotions. Everyone also told Liv that time stood still when something horrible like this happened. For Liv, time went by so fast.

Before Liv knew it, Maddie's and Diggie's picture was all over the news and thanks to Liv's celebrity status, the country knew about her disappearance. So many people volunteered to look for Maddie and had said that saw someone in Madison, Wisconsin that looked like her. Of course, that person just happened to be Liv and the people who said those things knew fully that Liv and Maddie were twins. It crushed the family to get there hopes up just to know that some jerk thought it was funny to say things like that.

That wasn't the worse thing that happened. Liv came home from school one day to see Artie Small's, Diggie's brother, sitting on the grass in the Rooney's backyard. His eyes were as red as his head and as swollen as his ego. He held an empty bottle of hand sanitizer in his hand, rubbing his hands furiously together. Liv ran to him and hugged him, knowing that he lost a sibling just like Maddie did. There was a thick rope near him but he pushed it out the way as Liv tighten his embrace. It was surprising how tragedies brought people together. Artie and Joey started hanging out more and became close friends. He later confessed to Joey that he planned to take his life that night but decided not to since Liv had comforted him. When Joey told Liv that, she cried and thought what would have happened if she didn't go into the backyard that night. That was one of the worse thoughts she ever had. Yet it wasn't the worse thing that she ever experienced. The worse thing was how fast time had gone past and how many holidays and special moments Maddie was not a part of.

Liv had to celebrate her eighteenth birthday without her twin. There was an empty seat at the Thanksgiving table, an untouched stocking over the fireplace during Christmas, an empty wine glass at New Year's Eve, an unread Valentine's day card from Artie and a leftover basket during Easter. Holden had taken her to prom but the two had become relatively distant since Maddie's disappearance. He said he was there for her but he avoided her most of the time. At her high school graduation, Liv accepted Maddie's diploma for her and Artie accepted Diggie's diploma for him. Artie had become a regular guest at the Rooney's house, sometimes spending the night or staying for days at a time. Liv sometimes spent hours just sobbing to him, he comforted her and Liv knew he really understood. Her senior year was spent crying, barely getting by and she was surprised that she was able to graduate. Her mom encouraged her by saying that Maddie would want her to go to school. That's the only reason she went. Despite her low grades, University of Wisconsin–Madison offered Liv a partial scholarship which she accepted.

Throughout the summer, Liv was miserable as she stared at the empty bed on the other side of the room. Artie would come into Liv's room and read Space Werewolf comics to her. He would make Liv deserts, tell her stories of all the people he pranked at camp. Andie also would come visit her, lay on the bed next to her and just talk about random subjects. Willow had visited her a few times but Liv knew that she preferred Maddie more and it made her sad to know Maddie was gone. The once happy Liv had turned into a depressed young woman that rarely got out of bed to the extent that Karen was worried about her. She suggested that Liv spend the last month of the summer in California on the beach. Liv got a hotel room near Santa Monica and spent her day's tanning in the sun and swimming in the ocean while trying to ease her mind and while remaining hopeful that Maddie would be found alive. When she came back, it was clear to Liv that staying in her joint bedroom with Maddie would only make her depressed. She packed her clothes and moved into a single bedroom dorm on campus at the end of the summer. She couldn't stay at home since it reminded her too much of Maddie. Her family understood and helped her out with the move.

On the first day of college, there was a pep rally where everyone was cheering for the school mascot, the Badger. Liv was expected to attend not only because she was the school's celebrity student but also because she was majoring in Music Performance and it was expected for students to see the seniors in that major sing. Although everyone around was cheering, Liv couldn't help but think how much Maddie would have loved to be there. Her sadness caused her to drink, the drinking made her wake up in someone else's room. That went on for the first two weeks of school.

One day, Liv looked in the mirror, seeing her sister's reflection staring back at her. She couldn't take it. She called her hairstylist and had her hair dyed platinum blonde. Her pale skin made the color work and Hollywood raved about her new look. The attention made her feel happy and she skipped to school to go to Hollywood. She spent a week hanging around Kylie Jenner, tanning and shopping, she even allowed her to talk her into getting a lip injection. The two agreed and Liv became the face of Kylie's cosmetics. Liv flew back to school, now able to look at herself in the mirror since she looked less like Maddie now. Her skin was sun-kissed, making her light hair pop, her lips stand out and her eyes became the focal point.

After midterms, Liv realized that it had almost been a year since Maddie had disappeared. Her mother called her, telling her the police had considered Maddie dead, yet there wasn't a body or remains found. For some reason, Liv felt a sense of urgency. Her sister had to be still alive, Liv could still feel her and she knew she had to be the one to find her. She told Karen but her mother replied by giving her a speech about how she needs to focus on school in honor of Maddie.

Liv verbally agreed with her mother but knew she needed to find her other half. Living life without Maddie was empty and miserable, it was not a life that Liv could see herself living. Liv couldn't stand another day without her sister. She knew what she had to do. She had to find Maddie.

 **A/N: Thak you so much for reading the prologue of _Ghost In The Mirror._ This story is part of my Halloween in November collection. Please feel free to favorite, follow and review! Special thanks to sammygirl17 for beta reading this story and giving me so many wonderful suggestions. If you want to interact with me and stay updated on my story progress than please follow me at Discreet Kitty on Tumblr.**


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